


Beginner's Witchcraft

by 002peach



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/M, Fantasy AU, soma week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 14:50:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14404407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/002peach/pseuds/002peach
Summary: Deep in the forest, budding witch Maka attempts to convince the demon Soul to become her familiar.





	Beginner's Witchcraft

Tucked away in her small cabin, deep in the forest, she hadn’t expected to hear any almost anyone around that late at night, much less the sound of music.

It was an odd, morbid sound- a faint, discordant piano piece loud enough to be heard in the distance. It had given Maka pause, but she wasn’t about to let a stranger intrude upon her neck of the woods. She threw on her robe and had attempted to light a candle with a spell that was supposed to be quick and easy according to _Beginner’s Witchcraft,_ but instead fumbled for a good thirty seconds before the matches were brought out, her ego bruised and her righteous anger turned towards whoever was out there ruining her night.

She ventured out into the clearing when she saw the hunched over figure sitting alone in the center, music blaring wildly in the air. It was dark and mesmerizing and she took a sharp breath at its unusual beauty- the figure immediately stopped at this, the crackling of the fire and light from her candle alerting her presence even more. The figure turned slowly, and she had almost stepped back from its stark white hair, blood red eyes, and sharp row of teeth that faced her- the unsettling features of a demon. She had gripped her wand defensively in her other hand, but her originally planned interrogation had died in her throat as something else spilled out.

“What was that song you were playing?”

Maka had never seen a demon’s eyebrows shoot up that way- she had not known they were even capable of any other expressions other than mildly to violently malevolent. She could have sworn from the dim light of her candle that he almost opened his mouth to answer, before instead deciding to flee into the darkness of the woods, leaving Maka confused, somewhat frightened, but mostly stricken by a feeling she could not place.

—

She didn’t realize how on edge she had been until two weeks later when she heard the faint tinkling of piano keys. She had been experimenting with a concoction of a rabbit’s foot and the blood of young dragon that was sure to anger her mentors, granted if it did not blow up her cabin first (her mentors except Stein, of course, who provided her with the blood) late into the night when she heard a strong, single note break through the hum of the crickets. She lit up her candle with the spell (in two minutes flat, her new best record) and ventured back out to the clearing, cupping her hand to shield the light when he saw his back hunched over, arms flailing wildly at his instrument. He played like a madman and the shine through the chaotic sounds that filled the space around and between them. She was no real expert on music- she found the concerts in the village Marie and Azusa would drag her to to be rather confusing and boring, but _this_ \- this felt different, this felt _alive._

It didn’t last long however. The sharp ears of the demon alerted him to her presence, and he shot up almost immediately to escape before she lurched forward towards him.

“Wait!”

She had absolutely no idea what possessed her to reach out her hand to grasp a literal demon. Azusa did always say she was too reckless for her own good. He jerked forward and looked back at her as if she had stricken him- another face she didn’t know was possible! His face was contorted in horror, but up close she could see that he didn’t actually resemble a demon too much. He had the odd features she knew to be of one, but they were settled on the face a...relatively normal boy?

She regained her senses again after a tense 10 seconds of complete shock, and retracted her back quickly as if his touch burned her. He seemed too floored to move, so she figured perhaps now was the time to get answers.

“Who are you? Why did you come back? This is my part of the woods.”

He regarded her with more shock and confusion and she wasn’t sure if he had even registered that she said anything before he spoke, voice raspy as if he hadn’t done it in years.

“Says who?”

Now it was her turn again to gape at him. Says _who??_

 _“_ Says… _me!!!_ ”

The demon regarded her again, eyebrows raised in a familiar way before he shocked her even further- he _smirked_.

“Don’t see your name on it.”

_What._

“How- how would I write my _name_ on the _woods_?? Where exactly?!?”

“If you can’t do it, then how can you say it’s yours?”

“Is _your_ name written anywhere on here?”

“I’m not the one saying this _belongs_ to me.”

Maka could almost not believe her eyes and ears. She confronted a _demon (_ maybe) and he’s _sassing_ her. She poured over her textbooks day and night to ace her tests, and she could recall not one question about how to handle supernatural beings that mouthed off to her.

“Okay listen, debatable property rights aside, you are right by my home. I have a right to question you! I’ve been living here for almost six months now I’ve never encountered almost anyone around here until now. So at the very least- tell me who you are. Why are you here?”

The demon’s expression darkened. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m leaving.” He motioned to head towards to the thicket of trees but Maka trailed behind him, suddenly feeling the weight of guilt in her stomach.

“Hey! Look, I’m sorry. I thought you might have been a threat, but I think I’m right in assuming you’re not?” He turned to face her, annoyed but curious.

“I-I don’t mean to throw you out of here or anything.” Her cheeks darkened in embarrassment. “You’re not entirely wrong, I don’t have any _actual_ claims to this land. I just never encounter anyone out here, so I was…anyway, if you want to stay here to play your music, I don’t mind. I don’t have many places to go so I won’t bother you, if that’s what you’d like.”

The annoyance in his face disappeared as he regarded her with an expression she couldn’t read entirely. The candle flickered, threatening to blow out as Maka fumbled with her spell before it was gone. He stepped closer, and to her surprise, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She had always thought a demon’s hand would be cold to the touch, but his was warm like hers. In a matter of seconds, a spark flew from her fingertips and reignited the fire.

She gasped. “I-I’ve never-“

“I didn’t realize you were a witch. No wonder you were so pissy about me being here.” She wanted to spit back a biting response but his hand was gone from her shoulder and he was heading back out the darkness.

“I don’t care where you go. This is your home. I’ll stay out.”

And with that, she was alone again. She looked down at her fingers that had just cast a spell she struggled with daily in a matter of seconds before looking out at the distance where he had just been. She didn’t even get a chance to ask him what song he was playing again- it almost sounded like the same one as before.

—

She didn’t have to wait too long for a chance to ask that question again, and more.

“ _Demon!_ ”

He shot up like an arrow immediately from the grass, and she realized she probably woke him up. She almost felt a little bad, but she tucked that guilt away to attend to more pressing matters. She ventured further out past the clearing this time, something she absolutely did not like to do this late at night, but that night, sitting alone in her cabin at this Godless hour, she felt the compulsion to just _look_. She felt like the answers to the questions swirling in her head for the five days were out, and it turned out she was probably right.

She stood right in front him, armed this time with _Beginner’s Witchcraft_ just in case things went south. The confused blinking and awkward scrambling from this demon boy told her she might not have too much to worry about.

“I knew you would be here.” She had a grin on her face that seemed to downright unsettle him, but his face quickly returned to neutral as he cleared his throat.

“Did you now…”

“I did! I could feel you.” She took a step closer and he jumped back as if she were the one who just lean forward and rip his throat out with her teeth. She felt maybe she was laying on too thick, but she’s spent every single night pouring into her research for all this, pestering Stein with incessant, even putting up with her _dad_ in the village for more information- all signs, to her, were pointing to one conclusion, and cut her some slack if she was a little excited- the answer to her struggles could be here!

“Uhhhhh-”

“Listen, just listen. My name is Maka. Could you tell me yours?”

He sized her up again, no doubt weighing this options on how to deal with all of this. Maka huffed inwardly at this, but maybe it was for the best. There wasn’t much a beginner witch could do against a powerful creature of the night, but if he didn’t seem to know that, then she wasn’t about to clue him in on it.

“I, uh- there’s not much of an equivalent in your language. Closest is Soul.”

“What language is that?” With that, he opened his mouth, and a piercing guttural shot straight into her ears and almost knocked her. She yelped and he wore a wicked grin, no doubt happy that he could have the upper hand, even if only for a second.

“Okay...interesting. So,” she bounced on her heels and the expressive brows she was growing familiar raised slightly. “I know you said last time you wouldn’t come back, but here you are again. It’s cold outside tonight, so if you choose to stay in this area, would you want to come to my cabin?” The eyebrows were up in his hair at this point, but Maka stood her ground, her best welcoming smile in place. She knew how stupid this was, a witch who couldn’t even perform a simple fire spell in under three minutes was inviting the personification of other-wordly dark magic into her home, completely alone. She was scared- but there was nothing to gain without some sort of risk, right? Showing she meant no harm could open him up to answering her questions.

Besides, it _was_ very cold tonight. She didn’t know how well demons handled weather but he couldn’t have been too comfortable laying on the ground either way.

He took a tentative step closer to her. _Lead the way_. He stayed three steps behind her as they made their back past the clearing.

\---

“Are you hungry?”

He seemed to be going through a internal flux of every conceivable emotion possible sitting at her small table, from hunched shoulders of defeat and submission to a rigid posture that was almost painful to even look at. He seemed like he’d be quite good at controlling his facial expressions, but his body seemed to always give him away. She grinned to herself at this.

“What do you like to eat?”

He squirmed slightly in his seat. “I don’t...eat much.”

“Well, what do you eat when you do?”

“...souls?”

The crackling of her fireplace filled the beat of painful silence.

“I don’t...have souls..”

“I figured.”

“How about...soup?”

He stared down at a steaming bowl of broth and vegetables bobbing up and down. “No meat?”

“Meat’s pricey.” A tiny scoff escaped his mouth and Maka felt a vein throb.

“I’m sorry, what souls are made of meat?”

“Just saying, if you’re so worried about what a demon eats. I saw you glance over your vials there.” He waved his hand towards her shelf of spices mixed with dark red vials of pig’s blood.

“Maybe you were thirsty!”

“We're capable of drinking _water_.”

“Are you always this rude to people to invite you into their homes?”

“Keyword being _you_ invited _me_.”

“I didn’t have to! This is my home!”

“Don’t see your name on i-” A swift throw of _Beginner’s Witchcraft_ to the forehead knocked him back, his comeback left floating in the air. He scrambled up and gaped at her.

“ _You’re crazy!_ ”

“ _You’re-_ y-” she sputtered, tiny fists shaking- “a _DUMMY._ ”

A pause. Then he broke out in loud, howling laughter.

“That’s really the best you could come up with, huh? Not much else that book can do for you?”

She blushed bright red in anger and embarrassment. This was going so wrong- she was supposed to try and get some answers out of him and her worst fear was that he could have possibly burned her alive. She was getting _owned_ in her home instead! She felt hot tears prick at her eyes and she gasped- Death please, _not right here, don’t let me cry in front of this demon_. She absolutely hated this habit of tearing up when she was angry. It was something all the adults like her dad would coo over as so cute and she boiled with rage at not being taken seriously. How could this be so _bad_ right now? She was humiliated, and now he was just going to have another opportunity to laugh in her face.

Except he didn’t. Upon seeing her watering eyes, he immediately stopped and shot up from the floor toward her. He paused and stepped back slightly from getting too close to her, and she looked up at him in shock. This was the closest he has gotten to her since he had put his hand on her shoulder, and she offhandedly realized how tall he was actually was.

“H-hey, don’t go crying.” She wiped her eyes and looked him in the eyes. Such an odd color, but expressive too. “I’m not sad or anything. But you must be really awful at comforting people.” He flinched slightly, and she almost thought she saw his cheeks turn red- could demons even actually do that?

“It’s not really my forte…but, I-I’m being a dick. I’m sorry.”

She smiled slightly at this. “Well...I guess I didn’t have to unleash my book like that on you too.” She said, glancing up at the bump on his forehead. He smiled back, and she dropped her eyes, feeling a sense of guilt.

“And truthfully...I didn’t entirely invite you here out of the kindness of my heart. I was hoping that-that maybe I could ask you some questions.”

His smile dropped but he didn’t look angry. “From me?”

“Yeah...when we met last, I- when you put your hand on my shoulder, I was able to light up my candle again.” She blushed slightly at this. “I’ve been struggling with that spell for a while. It normally would take me almost five minutes to do that when it’s supposed to just done in a matter of seconds. But when you were there, I did it immediately.” She paused, deciding how to proceed. “I guess I just wanted to know, do you- is there any possible reason for that you might know about?”

His face remained neutral but his eyes looked her up and down, processing her words. He remained silent for a bit and she was scared that perhaps she had asked something wrong when he finally spoke again.

“I don’t really know much about it, to be honest. I know that sometimes, uh, creatures like me can kind of...amplify the magic of others?”

“Amplify their powers?”

“I guess, yeah. I mean, I think the ability has to already be there, but yeah, I’ve come across some other demons who...take up some work helping witches out with their stuff or whatever.”

Maka regarded him with a twinkle in her eye and a smile that he clearly was very, very weary of but she absolutely could not stop herself.

“Like a familiar?”

He pulled back from her and her smile dropped.

“I, uh, I think maybe I should go-”

“Ah wait, I’m sorry-”

“No, i-it’s cool, I just- it’s late so you probably should be going to bed. Thanks for the food, it was really good.”

 

“Just wait please!” She reached out for his hand again and he pulled back just as she grazed his fingers. She stepped back and regarded him with confusion. What had she done now? Had she come on too strong? Unfortunately for her, Maka really didn’t know how else to confront something other than knocking it head on.

“Please, let me just say I’m sorry at least. I know I must have been very weird but-”, she knew for an absolute _fact_ that she was only going to get weirder, but at the very least, she could explain why she felt compelled to take up his time.

“I-I’m very much a novice at my magic. I moved out here by myself because I wanted to be able to take the time to really try my hardest at it, but it’s just...been very hard. I don’t really have very many visitors in this part of the woods, and most people can’t even find my cabin. When I heard you out there, I thought maybe it had been someone trying to scare me out of my home. But I feel like the fact that I heard your music and it turned out to be you, and you were able to jumpstart my magic like that…”

His eyes widened with every word. Maka knew how utterly pathetic and odd she probably sounded right now, having to openly admit not only that she wasn’t too fantastic a witch, but that there was some sort of grand reason why it ended up being _him_ out there that night- by what, fate? Pure luck? Anything that should matter even a little bit to any supernatural being at all, much less him?

“So I think I had thought that maybe there was some sort of reason it was your music I heard. But- but I guess that’s kind of dumb, huh?” She gave a smile she hoped didn’t betray her embarrassment and disappointment. “Anyway, I’m sorry to have kept you. If you need a place to stay again anytime, please feel free to ask. But I’ll let you go now.”

She nodded at him and turned to walk towards her bedroom. He’ll probably let himself out, and she’ll try not to hear the sound of that melody play in her head as tries to fall asleep again. She heard him take a footstep and and she closed her eyes, ready to drown herself in embarrassment on her bed.

“Meat.”

Her eyes shot open. She turned to look back at him and saw he had taken a step closer.

“Buy me meat and I’ll stick around for a couple of days. See what you’ve got.”

She couldn’t help the jaw drop that made him crack a taunting grin. Taunting her didn’t matter at this point, her eyes sparkled and huge, goofy grin formed on her face as she scrambled around her cabin, setting up a place for him to rest.

\---

He laid on a pile of old blankets and pillows she had stuffed in a closet. She had offered him her bed at one point, but he refused- he had gotten quite used to the ground apparently. Maka could almost not contain her excitement at this, despite the fact that she essentially invited a stranger demon boy to live in her space. They situated his resting area in her small living room before she retired to her even smaller room. Despite laying down at far past midnight, she was still restless. She realized there was still a question she had on her mind that she forgot to ask. She crept over to see if he was still awake, and though he laid perfectly still, back turned to wall, she knew he could hear her.

“Soul.” No response.

“What is that song you were playing?”

Still nothing. Ah well. She turned back to head to her room when she heard his response, small but loud enough to ring in her ear for the rest of the night.

“It’s me.”

\---

He’s fussy and messy, and apparently not a very big fan of pork, much to her anger (“Do you KNOW how much this was??”) Chicken however, he devoured- a lot of raw fish too, much to Maka’s blatant disgust. A couple of days had morphed to a couple of weeks, a couple of weeks morphing to three months. Two weeks in, Soul seemed to pick up on some of the chores Maka rushed around doing before her lessons at the village, and Maka was _very_ much enjoying coming home to a clean cabin every night after long days of Stein goading her to blow up everything and anything with charred lizard tail and goat eyes while Azusa then screamed bloody murder at the two, Stein cackling maniacally while Maka took her punishment and sought comfort from Marie and Mira. Having the chores done so early freed up time for her to study for her written exams _and_ practice her spells- something Soul could not make any clearer that he did _not_ enjoy doing.

“You don’t even have to do anything! You literally just have to sit there and grab my shoulder!”

“And literally _nothing else_. I’d even take reading one of your boring ass books at this point.”

She huffed, holding _Beginner’s Witchcraft_ and her personal copy of _Wuthering Heights_ closer to her. “You don’t deserve Emily.”

“Just Emily? She, like, your best friend now or something? Only you’d be a giant enough nerd to-” He became very acquainted with the works of Emily Brontë with a swift throw to the head.

Aside from that, Maka’s life was not a particularly exciting one, and despite Soul grousing about her “boring ass hobbies” constantly, he seemed to fit right into it. He rarely ventured out the cabin at all unless it was to help Maka bring in groceries she picked up at the village, and he was content spending his days napping, flipping through her other novels, or scribbling things down in empty journals she had lying around. When Maka came home, they would either cook together, or take turns doing it themselves (there was a bit of a learning curve upon realizing that Soul was very much capable of eating raw, bloody meat whole and nothing else), sit down to eat and chat, work on her magic for a bit, and retire to their beds.

Following this new routine, Maka had noticed a couple things about Soul; one, he was very, _very_ private, almost extremely so. She would attempt at times to ask him about where was he was from and where he had been before he ended up at the clearing but he kept his lips tight. Oddly enough, this didn’t necessarily mean he was completely silent- get him started and he could rant and complain about almost anything, and Maka would take it all in with sharp ears, attempting to piece together what she could about his life from their conversations. She didn’t entirely understand the ins and outs of aging for demons, but she knew he was probably about the equivalent of her 20 years. She knew he probably had traveled here from far away, judging from when he would offhandedly mention places she knew from her books that seemed worlds beyond her small space. And she knew that he tried very, very hard. A big departure from the range of expressions he gave her the first night he was in her cabin, he seemed now like he’d rather die than show any emotions other than Nothing and mild, vague amusement or annoyance. It annoyed her, if only because it made her realize how emotional she actually was. She laughed and sniffled freely at her books, she shouted and grumbled when a spell went wrong or when he was annoying her, and had no qualms about showing Soul how she felt, because she felt like she probably couldn’t hide her emotions even if she tried, and honestly, she felt like she really shouldn’t _have_ to. She wasn’t exactly a wide open book herself, but why make her feelings such a big secret? If she was mad, she was mad, and if she was happy, she was happy- something she probably picked up from both her mother and father. It was so odd to meet someone like Soul who seemed to have such a tight lock on everything he did.

Another thing she noticed was that he never played music in the house, which was odd since he was playing so freely outside when they had first met. But she couldn’t dwell too much on that at the moment because she came home early one while he was chopping vegetables and she learned a third thing about him, which was he had _a massive scythe for an arm_.

So she screamed.

“WHAT IS THAT-”

“MAKA?”

He turned from the counter to reach out to her but ended up nearly swinging his new, gigantic sharp arm near her face.

“ _PUT THAT DOWN!!_ ”

“ _My ARM??”_

\---

She sunk down on the couch, slightly calmer. She glared at him from across the room while he looked sheepishly around.

“In my defense, it’s not really anything you can just bring up randomly. It’s also not that big a deal.”

She sighed. “I know it’s not. I was just...caught off guard, let’s say.”

“Kind of an understatement, but whatever.”

“Is that a thing all demons can do?”

“Mm, not all, I guess. But a lot of us, yeah. Some have different forms though- can’t all be badass scythes.” He grinned, but Maka seemed less than impressed.

“You know Soul...I feel like I don’t really know that much about you.” His grin dropped at this.

“I mean, I know we haven’t known each other for that long yet. Technically, you still haven’t even really decided you would be my familiar...but. I would say we’re kind of friends, right?”

Friends with a demon- this was the turn her life has taken. But she couldn’t pretend she didn’t enjoy his company, and now she was afraid this was less a privacy thing and maybe more a trust thing.

He stayed silent for a very long time, looking away from her, and Maka wondered again if maybe she was simply pushing too much on him. She couldn’t imagine demons were fantastic friend-makers. Maybe this was just an arrangement that couldn’t be. His voice brought her out of her thoughts, however.

“It’s not easy for me to be too open.” He paused before continuing. “Don’t have much experience with it. Demons aren’t really the type to do that,” he huffed. “But, I’m not really a complete demon anyway, so I guess a lot of is just me too.”

Maka perked up at this. “You’re not a full demon?” He shook his head. “Half. That’s why I look like...this. There’s a lot of ways demons can look, but they tend not to be so human-like.” He seemed uncomfortable going further than that, so Maka didn’t push.

“I see. My whole family has always been involved in magic, so I guess I was just born a witch.” She let out another sigh, the words not feeling entirely sincere to her. “But maybe I should have been born just a student instead, huh?” With Soul’s help, she had been doing a little better. Her minor spells had improved greatly with just his being there, enhancing her magic almost innately. She had been over the moon for the first month until she would try alone, or at the village in front of all her mentors, and she’d falter again. She didn’t know what it was about the unreadable look that Soul was giving her that made her want to press on, but she did.

“I know I don’t really have much of a talent for it. My mother on the other hand, she’s a _great_ witch. The best from our village. She had come out here all by herself and perfected every spell in the book. And I...just wanted to be just like her. I still do. And I almost thought I was getting there with how well all my test scores are.” She looked down, feeling warmth in her cheeks. These were things she shoved in the back of her mind, choosing instead to wake up everyday with a new goal of doing better. Wasn’t this a little pathetic? But the look on his face made her feel maybe this was actually necessary.

“But when it comes down to it, that’s as far as I can go, I guess. I’m really still so useless without you there. And…i can’t really keep expecting you’ll be sticking around, waiting for me to get better.”

She clenched her fists around her cloak, trying her hardest not to show the depths of her worthlessness. Actually voicing her insecurities felt like plunging a knife deep into her stomach and twisting it with every word. How long did she really expect to keep him here, hoping that somehow his innate abilities were going to improve hers for good? A familiar can only enhance what’s already there- if there was nothing there to begin, then what else could he do?

She hadn’t realized that Soul made his way from across the room to next to her on the couch. He leaned back, sinking into the cushions, not looking at Maka, but sitting closeby.

“You know, being half a demon, I don’t even have a fraction of the power the others have. I know you were amazed and all by my super cool scythe, but honestly? It’s kind of nothing really.” She smiled very slightly at the joke.

“You know, before I met you, I really had no idea where I was going. I just knew I wanted out from where I was at.” He paused hesitantly before pressing forward. “That night in the forest...I had never played at song before.”

She looked up at him at this. “What?...I thought- I thought you said that song was...you?”

“It is. I’m sure of it. I had just never known how exactly to quantify _me_. Not like I’m anything special, but I think there’s a lot of…. _stuff_ about me that I gotta work through. Demons aren’t super huge on music- not music in the way that humans think of it anyway. Demon instruments are weird as shit and _painful_. I came across the piano one day and I was hooked, just like that. There’s something there that an instrument from my home couldn’t capture- but there’s something about _me_ that I thought the piano couldn’t get. How’s anything on this world supposed to be good for a worthless mutt?” He huffed, like it was all joke, but the wistfulness in his eyes told her different. She stared at him, waiting for more.

“Anyway, I went out to that clearing that night and I just suddenly felt like I really needed to play, so I did. And sure enough, you came crawling out.” She almost whacked him for his choice of words but he suddenly decided to look at her straight on, catching her off guard.

“I think what I’m basically saying is, I’m not that great at anything either. I can’t really think of anything I did worthwhile for anything until I wrote that song, and until you asked me to help you out. And...I don’t think that has to be a bad thing. Yeah, you kind of suck at magic. Whatever. I suck at everything- I suck at cooking, I suck at cleaning, I suck as talking to others, I suck at making friends- but since all this happened, I think I suck...less. And I think you suck less too. I think we make each other suck less, and that’s what it takes, then so be it. Maybe there was a reason you heard me that night.”

Maka had really hoped with all her heart her eyes wouldn’t tear up, but there they went. Ah, Hell.

“You really suck at comforting too.” She smiled brightly, and he returned it in kind.

\---

A year into her home tucked away in the woods, six months in with her now-familiar (and maybe her best friend, but shush), and she was ready to take her next level courses with her mentors. It had been a long time coming, but she knew work still had to be done- she was up late one night studying when from right behind, she heard a familiar tinkling of piano keys. She looked over, amazed.

“You’re playing!”

He froze for a second, his back turned to her before he continued. “ ‘S not that big a deal.”

“What exactly do you even play on?” He turned around to reveal a giant scythe leg lined with worn, but lovely ivory keys. At this point, she accepted Soul was simply full of surprises. _Demons_.

“Can I try?”

“Shouldn’t you be the studying the thing you’re actually good at?”

She shoved his shoulder as she sat down beside him. She pondered the keys for a moment before pressing down hard on one, a strong note filling the silence of the cabin.

“Oh! This is the note I heard that night!”

“Really? Figures. Sounds just like you.”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” A noncommittal shrug was his response, his annoying fake-neutral face at play.

“I’ll really never understand you music types.”

She pulled out _Beginner’s Witchcraft_ again, ready to tackle her final spell (she could then finally moved on to the creatively named _Intermediate Witchcraft_ )- a levitation spell that required 100% of her concentration. She had a lot of that to give, but she just needed the one extra push.

“Soul.” He looked up. “Can you help me, please?”

She directed her attention towards a thick dictionary in the middle of the room. Bit of a tough one, but she was ready to truly and finally knock Stein and everyone off their feet.

“What are you trying to do?”

“I’m gonna lift that book off the ground. I just need to concentrate, and you just do- you know, your thing.”

“My _thing_.”

“Yes, your thing. Now quiet!”

She raised her wand towards the book, her face and eyes scrunched at _120%_ concentration. She could hear Soul spit with laughter, but she dutifully ignored him. A long pause. She opened one eye, ready to ask what exactly was the hold up when she saw him staring at her thoughtfully from the the corner of her eye, and somehow that look caused her stiffen ever so slightly.

“Soul?”

She closed her eyes again and expected the familiar warmth of this hand on her shoulder, but it was left cold. Instead, she felt warm fingers wrap tightly around her other hand.

A bright spark sent the dictionary shooting straight up to the ceiling before slamming back to the ground.

 

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY SOMA WEEK 2018 YALL
> 
> this was meant to be 1) way funnier than this ended up being, and 2) MUCH more about actual magic and much less about Feelings but. here we are i guess
> 
> i hope you all like it regardless!! i'm still trying to get back into the groove of writing and this is very uncharacteristically long for me jkhjkgj but it was fun!
> 
> (also there is a little bit of proofreading but i am very bad at proofreading so jkfdhgjk)


End file.
